This application claims the priority of Japanese Patent Application No. 8-340473 filed on Dec. 4, 1996, which is incorporated herein by reference.
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an electronic endoscope system, and more specifically contents of a connector section for electronic endoscope systems which is configured to connect an electronic endoscope as a scope to an external unit such as a light source unit and permits omitting electrical connection.
2. Description of the Prior Art
An electronic endoscope system is an instrument which leads rays from a light source unit to an electronic endoscope used as a scope, projects these rays from a tip section into a body to be observed and picks up an image of an interior of the body to be observed with a CCD (charge coupled device) or the like disposed in the tip section. In an electronic endoscope system of this kind, an electronic endoscope is connected to external units such as a light source unit and an image processor unit by way of cables and connectors, and video signals are supplied through this processor unit to a monitor.
Since a conventional electronic endoscope system, an endoscope used in the medical field in particular, requires a cleaning process at which cleaning and disinfection are carried out, a connector section which connects the electronic endoscope to the processor unit is configured so as to allow separate airtight means such as a waterproof cap to be disposed on a terminal section at the stage of washing and disinfection. However, this airtight means is relatively large and heavy, thereby posing problems that it makes inconvenient handling of the electronic endoscope and that it makes a cleaning work tedious.
An optical connector section which connects the electronic endoscope to the light source unit, in contrast, has no exposed terminal for electrical connection and, when a waterproof structure is adopted for the connector section, it can be washed and disinfected without attaching such special airtight means as that described above. Accordingly, the washing and disinfection works are facilitated if the electronic endoscope system and the external unit can be connected in a manner similar to the optical connector section described above.
Further, it is required for the electronic endoscope system to adopt isolation means which electrically separates internal circuits in an electronic endoscope and so on to assure patients' securities, and it is desired to dispose this isolation means so as to be highly efficient.
Furthermore, since electronic endoscopes of various types are adopted in accordance with locations and purposes of application, it is conventionally general to manufacture light source units and processor units for electronic endoscopes of each type. Accordingly, an external unit such as a light source unit which is connectable and usable commonly to and with endoscopes of different types, if available, makes it possible to obtain an electronic endoscope having a high utility value.